The Ramsey Portraits of Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Hyrum
Smith, the Patriarch

By John D. Hopkins

Around the turn of the
20th century, many people in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints were dissatisfied with existing representations of their first leader,
the Prophet Joseph Smith. As evidence of this, Dean C. Jessee relates the
following from some prominent Church member's opinions about some of Joseph
Smith's portraits:

"In December 1894, a
service commemorating Joseph Smith's birth was held in the old Sixteenth Ward
meetinghouse in Salt Lake City. Bathsheba W. Smith, one of the dwindling
generation of Latter-day Saints who knew the Prophet, spoke to the assembly.
The aging matriarch mentioned that she had been personally acquainted with
Joseph and that she prided herself as a judge of handsome men. Then, referring
to cherished paintings of the Prophet adorning the walls of the chapel, she
commented that they were 'but little better than cartoons'; they were nothing
but 'libels' and 'ought to be burned.'

"Further, Patriarch
John Smith and Angus M. Cannon, who also spoke on the occasion, echoed
Bathsheba Smith's observation. Others in the nineteenth century were equally
unimpressed by the pictorial record. Alfred B. Lambson noted of Joseph, 'there
are no pictures that do justice to him.'"[1]

Perhaps, not all felt so strongly, but at the time,
the main representations of the Prophet in use appeared to be some crude
profile drawings by Sutcliffe Maudsley and a front-view oil painting[2]
owned by The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (now known
as The Community of Christ), both of which were done during Joseph Smith's
lifetime. There were other portraits, but the above-mentioned images seemed to
have risen to the top in their authoritative authenticity at the time.

Apparently however, Joseph and his wife Emma
actually disliked this latter RLDS portrait because it "made him look foxy
[sly]."[3] Also, when
Junius F. Wells visited Emma Smith in the winter of 1875--76, this painting was
hanging in her home. He asked her what Joseph thought of the painting, and she
replied, "I can tell you that, for I asked him, and he said: 'Emma that is
a nice painting of a silly boy, but it don't look much like a Prophet of the
Lord!'" [4] More
recently, Ephraim Hatch in his comparisons of Joseph Smith portraits with the
death mask, concludes: "A major surprise to me was to learn that the very
popular front-view [RLDS] oil painting is not a very accurate portrait of
Joseph. The artist was skillful in making beautiful facial features, but the
relationship of one feature to another is not correct."[5]

Prior to 1910, The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints seems to have mainly used the Maudsley shadow-derived
portraits of Joseph Smith in Church publications. These drawings were made by
tracing the profile of a person's shadow and then filling it in. During Joseph
Smith's lifetime, photography was still in its infancy --- no known photographs
were actually taken of him. Though there are claims to the contrary, research
has shown these daguerreotypes have turned out to be of the RLDS portrait.[6]
The RLDS portrait was apparently not available to the Church for its
publications until later. Though the Maudsley shadow portrait was an accurate
profile of Joseph Smith near the latter end of his life, other elements were
disappointing and became tiresome to Church members as it was so frequently
published, with the reproductions apparently deteriorating.

Artwork 1. "Joseph
Smith, the Prophet", 1910, oil on
canvas, 40 x 30 in., Courtesy of the Museum of Church History and Art

The Ramsey
Portrait of Joseph Smith, the Prophet

Church service and religious education were
important to Lewis A. Ramsey. He believed that children should be shown
accurate and interesting visual images of their beliefs. So he decided to make
a new portrait of Joseph Smith. His wife said, "He thought it would do
some good as all we ever saw were the awful profile[s] of Maudsley which became
worse and worse..."[7]

For about ten years[8]
before Lewis A. Ramsey put to canvas his well-known portraits of Joseph Smith
in 1910 and Hyrum Smith in 1911, he researched every detail. Although there was
no photograph of Joseph Smith, in the early 1900's there were still many
helpful artifacts and sources of information made available to him and used by
him in making the portrait:

·The death masks of Joseph and Hyrum, cast the day after
their martyrdom

·A lock of Joseph's hair, showing his hair color

·A black dress coat that had belonged to Hyrum Smith,
provided by descendants

·A good black and white photograph of the RLDS portrait,
though this would have had very limited influence in the Ramsey portrait
because L. A. Ramsey knew that Joseph and Emma Smith were not pleased with it

·An original drawing by Maudsley, which served at least
to show the way the Prophet combed his hair at the time, the style of his
collar, tie, and clothes generally

·A living relative to serve as a model, Wesley Smith (a
grandson of Hyrum Smith), whose body build and head shape were reported to be
similar to Joseph's

·The knowledge of people still alive who had known
Joseph and Hyrum Smith personally

·Church Historian B. H. Roberts, whose office was
across the hall from L. A. Ramsey's studio for a time, provided historical
details about the Prophet's appearance

Lewis A. Ramsey also made portraits of Bathsheba
Smith in 1908 and 1910. While sitting for them, she spoke of many incidents
involving Emma Smith and the Prophet. She spoke much of the Prophet's
character, habits, etc., all of which helped to give a greater understanding of
him. When Wesley Smith posed for Mr. Ramsey's portrait, Bathsheba Smith tied
the tie depicted in the portrait as it was done in Joseph Smith's time.
Wesley's hair was combed in the style of the day and he wore the coat that had
belonged to his grandfather Hyrum. Bathsheba Smith also said that Joseph always
wore a ring on his right hand. The RLDS portrait also showed this. So Lewis
placed the ring on the right hand rather than the left.[10]

Artwork 2. Bathsheba Wilson Bigler Smith, 1910, oil on canvas, 30 x 25 in., Courtesy of the
Museum of Church History and Art

The
final result appeared astonishingly authentic and seemed to truly capture the
spirit of the Prophet. Mrs. Ramsey records in a letter, "Those who
knew the Prophet praised the portrait."[11]
When Bathsheba Smith first saw the
finished work she wept and exclaimed, "Oh, Lewis, that is the
Prophet."[12] Lucy
Kimball, Joseph's last living wife, came up to Lewis' studio to view the
portrait. She sat looking at it for some time, crying softly and said approvingly,
"It is Joseph." Present in the studio at the time were Edna
Smith, wife of President Joseph F. Smith, George D. Pyper, George Q. Morris
(later a member of the Quorum of the Twelve), and others.[13]
A Church publication in 1910 corroborates this by writing of "the
portrait, which many people, alive today, and who knew [Joseph Smith], declare
to be more life-like than any previous painting of the Prophet."[14]A newspaper article, also from
1910, records how others studiously approved of the portrait:

"Artist L. A. Ramsey
has completed a picture of the Prophet Joseph, which promises to become the
standard representation of the founder of the Latter-day Saint Church. Mr.
Ramsey has made the picture from what authentic sources are extant, comprising
chiefly the death mask of the prophet, also from descriptions by relatives and
friends who carried his memory deeply embedded in consciousness.

"These relatives and
friends have all pronounced the portrait an almost absolutely perfect one, and
all express themselves as delighted with the result of Mr. Ramsey's work.
Besides these more personal critics a number of others who have viewed the
portrait have declared it to be a wonderful expression of personality as
represented in known attributes of the subject. Among these, two well known
students of physiognomy sat down before the portrait and wrote separate
impressions of it which are given below:

"The first is by B. F.
Cummings and the second by N. Y. Schofield.

________

"There is now on
exhibition at the studio of Mr. Lewis A. Ramsey an oil portrait of the Prophet
Joseph Smith, which will certainly create unusual interest as it comes to be
better known among the cultured followers of that great reformer. At the very
first glance the portrait produces a striking effect upon the beholder and this
effect becomes more profound as the painting is more closely studied.

"Any person who
believes in the mission of the great modern seer and has made a study of his
life, works, teachings and personal peculiarities, is very likely to see in
this picture a far better conception of its subject than he has ever formed in
his own mind.

"We know that the
prophet was a man of splendid physique and tall, athletic and well built
figure: that his eyes were of a clear blue and his hair of light brown; that
his language, manner and disposition were cheerful and sometimes jovial; that
his nature was loving and affectionate; that he was intensely active, mentally
and physically; that he was an eager student and an orator of rare power; and that
he was as brave as a lion.

"Here in this portrait
we have all of these traits brought out. Physical beauty of face and form, a
cheerful spirit, a kindly almost loving expression of the mouth, a look of keen
perception and rare intelligence overspreading the face, and an impression of
courage and power are all impressively portrayed.

"Rarely does an artist
succeed in imparting to the eyes of his subject so life-like and remarkable an
expression as is here seen. ... This reproduction of the features [of] the
Prophet Joseph is pleasing and impressive in a very unusual degree and cannot
fail to add to the reputation of the artist. It is proper here to add that his
success was largely due to his diligence in obtaining from living persons and
other sources detailed information and descriptions of the prophet's personal
appearance, which he has most happily combined into a portrait that is probably
as faithful a likeness of the original as is now extant.B.
B. CUMMINGS.

"The original painting
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, just finished by Mr. Ramsey, from which the
accompanying photograph is taken, must be admitted a striking yet perfectly
consistent departure from the usual likeness of the prophet with which we have
become familiar, and whatever effect it may have upon the trained and skeptical
eye of the art critic, the writer of course cannot say, but to the ordinary
layman at least the production is decidedly new, pleasing and captivating.

"Without any personal
knowledge of the prophet it is only possible to criticize the painting either
by comparison with other pictures or from our conception of his personality
obtained by a careful study of his life, his character and his achievements.

"We know for instance that,
entirely apart from any consideration of divine aid, in his brief but eventful
career, Joseph Smith exhibited to a marked degree certain well defined traits
of character---some weak, some very strong, that necessarily distinguished him
from all others, and in the intelligent, expressive features of this beautiful
painting by Mr. Ramsey the student of human nature may readily detect one by
one the various physical evidences of that well known power. Extraordinary
results are accomplished only through the medium of extraordinary agencies, and
certainly the artist in this instance has not overlooked them.

"The expression of the
eye is really wonderful and many other features seem to call for special
comment, but the limits of this brief article forbid detail.

"The writer disclaims
any special knowledge of art, but will say that the happy blending of the
different temperaments, the general contour of the head and every
physiognomical [thing] are all clearly marked... and from the human nature
standpoint, all are in exact accord with the well known and established
characteristics of the prophet.

N.
Y. SCHOFIELD."

Not
all praised the portrait however. Leaders of the Reorganized Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith's own descendants, criticized the
work. This was to be expected though because their revered RLDS portrait of
Joseph Smith, which had incorrect facial proportions, hung in their homes and
became the main influence of their concept of Joseph Smith's appearance over
the years.

At the time Lewis A. Ramsey
completed the painting of Joseph Smith in 1910, the Salt Lake Tribune wanted to
buy it for $1000. Mr. Ramsey went
to President Joseph F. Smith of the Church and asked him what he should do.
President Smith kindly said, "Oh, that portrait should belong to the
Church" and that he would speak to the brethren about it. The
Tribune then told Lewis, "Name your price." When President Smith
learned of this, he wondered what the Tribune wanted the portrait for. Lewis'
wife later said, "I have always thought they would have reproduced it and
given it as a premium for subscriptions as at this time our people didn't think
too kindly of the Tribune." Lewis would not even name a price to the
Tribune but sold it to the Church for $1000, the amount first offered by the
Tribune. Principle meant much more
to Lewis than money. As to the copyright, it went to the Church with the
purchase of the painting. But President Smith agreed that Lewis should have the
full right of royalties and sales, except for when the Church published it. The
entire financial return to the Ramsey's from royalties turned out to be less
than $52.50.[15]

Perhaps
part of the reason for the low rate of return was some unauthorized
reproductions outside of the Church. It is said that imitation is the sincerest
form of flattery and despite the Ramsey's sincerest efforts and frustrations in
controlling the copyright and reproduction outside the Church, according to the
copyright laws in existence at the time, the free use or imitation of the
portrait seemed irrepressible. The painting appeared so authentic that some
people have even mistakenly thought it was painted much earlier.[16]

One of the most daring imitations
was by Crawford Anderson. He saw, he said, a portrait of the prophet published
in some magazine. He had two of the best artists in New York make a copy of the
photograph in the magazine, changing the tie to avoid the copyright. Anderson
said that the magazine got the picture from an old history in Ohio. He accused
Lewis of getting his from the same place. After some discussion about putting
this story in the Rotogravure section of the Deseret News, the old history in
Ohio was sent for. There was the portrait as Anderson said, but under it was
the statement, "Inserted by the permission of the artist, L. A.
Ramsey." However, there were many of these copies of Anderson's sold.

In December of 1924, The Ladies'
Home Journal printed a copy of Lewis A. Ramsey's portrait of the Prophet Joseph
Smith. Unfortunately they had printed it without Lewis' knowledge and without
his signature or copyright notice. When Lewis found out about it, he wrote a
note to the editor, Barton W. Currie of Philadelphia, Penn., dated April 27,
1925:

"Dear Sir;

"In the December, 1924
issue of the Ladies' Home Journal was printed a portrait of the Prophet Joseph
Smith. This is a copy of my portrait of him, which I made and copyrighted in
1910. I note that both the sign of the copyright and my signature were omitted
from the print. Inasmuch as the printing of this was a violation of the
copyright law, I expect a royalty and a recognition of my work.

The following month,
the Journal's lawyer responded in a letter dated May 19, 1925:

"Dear Sir:

"Mr. Currie has asked
me to reply to your letter of April 27th regarding reproduction in
the December issue of the Ladies' Home Journal of a portrait of the Prophet
Joseph Smith, painted by you.

"It is and always has
been the policy of The Curtis Publishing Company in reproducing an artist's work
to give proper credit even though the work may not be protected by copyright,
and it is a matter of regret that this was not done in this case. You will
appreciate, however, that The Curtis Publishing Company were innocent of any
intentional infringement of copyright in as much as the print from which this
reproduction was made contained no copyright notice, and such publication could
therefore not be the basis of any claim for royalty.

Of course there were many legitimate reproductions
done, such as those done by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Ramsey's were most concerned about the display of the signature and
copyright date as that was important to retaining copyright under the laws of
the time and that Mr. Ramsey received due credit.

Mrs. Ramsey also speaks of good reproductions of the
portrait in pamphlets and such in Europe and America: "Bro Frank I.
Kooyman has a fine reproduction printed in Holland, maybe like [the] pamphlet
written in Dutch. [The] signature shows plainly. So good ones can be made [from
it]. I have a letter written to Bro Ramsey from J. Frank Pickering. He has
supplied Bro Ramsey['s] portrait to the Writer's Project for reproduction in a
Nauvoo guide."[19]
This latter publication occurred in 1938 and was part of a federal work project
sponsored by the Works Progress Administration. They wrote:

"The inclusion of
these pictures was suggested by Mr. J. Frank Pickering, and is heartily
concurred in by both Mr. John T. Frederick, regional Director of this Project,
and myself. We would, of course, give you credit in the prefatory note of the
book.[20]

Mr. Pickering, a friend of Mr. Ramsey living in
Chicago also states in his accompanying letter that Church President David O.
McKay and President Bryant S. Hinckley of the Northern States Mission favorably
reviewed this guide. He then adds, "This Guide cannot fail to give a good
impression of our people to the tourist who will be its main purchasers, and
your two pictures will make this impression even stronger."[21]

Also, earlier in 1938, the Illinois Quest in Quincy
did a story of the Mormons in Nauvoo and used L. A. Ramsey's paintings of
Joseph and Hyrum Smith to illustrate it. The editor states, "We selected
your pictures of the Smiths in preference to any others available." They
were also interested that Mr. Ramsey was a native of Illinois.[22]

And
so, L. A. Ramsey's portrait of the Prophet Joseph Smith was widely reproduced
in both Church and national publications for decades, both legitimately and
otherwise. It appears to have been the Church's main image of Joseph Smith in
the first half of the 20th century. Later, more modern portrayals
would come into use, although many people have felt that some of these newer
portraits are more glamorized renditions of Joseph Smith's appearance.
Nevertheless, new fresh images of the prophet leader, as long as they strive to
match his true likeness, can give us new insights to the man and his
personality. In a way, they carry on what L. A. Ramsey did in his time, giving
people a new and hopefully more accurate perspective of Joseph Smith. Church
Museum curator Richard Oman said of the Ramsey portrait in 1977, "It remains
today perhaps the best likeness of Joseph Smith. It is certainly one of the
most introspective rather than monumental portraits ever done of the
Prophet."[23]

Portrait of Hyrum Smith, the
Patriarch and Other Versions of the Portraits of Joseph and Hyrum

In
1911, Lewis A. Ramsey painted a portrait of the prophet's older brother, Hyrum
Smith who was Church Patriarch and his companion in martyrdom. This association
led to the Ramsey portraits of Joseph and Hyrum also becoming companion
portraits, usually being shown together. The portrait of Hyrum was eventually
hung next to Joseph's in the Salt Lake Temple. Mr. Ramsey made the portrait of
Hyrum similar to the way he made the portrait of Joseph Smith[24]
--- from a death mask and an early engraving or photograph.

Artwork 3. "Hyrum Smith,
the Patriarch", 1911, oil on
canvas, 40 x 30 in., Courtesy of the Museum of Church History and Art

What is less known is that Lewis A.
Ramsey painted more than one version of his portraits of the Joseph Smith,
the Prophet and Hyrum Smith, the
Patriarch. He made black and white versions
for reproduction, which are the ones that most people recognize and use. Lewis
also sold these versions himself in both black and white, and in sepia (brown
tones).[25]

Artwork 4. "Joseph
Smith, the Prophet", 1910, black &
white;
Artwork 5. "Hyrum Smith, The Patriarch", 1911, black & white
These are those printed in the front and back respectively in From
Plowboy to Prophet

Black and white versions of the
portraits of Joseph and Hyrum Smith appeared in the book From Plowboy to
Prophet by
William A. Morton, published in 1912, which Mr. Ramsey also illustrated.
When L. A. Ramsey sold prints of the Prophet Joseph, he would often also sell
one of Hyrum to go along with it.[26]Other than the obvious color difference,
there are noticeable differences between the black and white versions of Joseph
and Hyrum Smith and their original color oil paintings.

Lewis A. Ramsey also made a smaller color portrait
of Joseph Smith a few years later, which hangs in the Joseph Smith building at
Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. The first large painting he made
though has always hung in the Salt Lake Temple or its annex lobby. All others
are probably imitations by others, particularly if they are unsigned and
undated.

How the Ramsey Portrait of Joseph
Smith Compares with the Death Mask

In
recent years, more research has been done on what Joseph Smith looked like.
Ephraim Hatch compared facial proportions in portraits of Joseph Smith, including
the Ramsey painting, with the proportions found in Joseph's death mask and
wrote a book about his findings and research. Though most of the research seems
very good and his approach sound, unfortunately his placement of baselines for
the Ramsey portrait is off, resulting in an inaccurately unfavorable conclusion
that the portrait is short in the upper lip. Mr. Hatch asserts that the length
of the nose from the brow to the tip of the nose would remain the same after
death since it is bone and cartilage. This seems fine. Then by placing
comparison lines from the brow and the end of the nose as common points of
reference between the death mask and a work of art, one can visually judge how
the other facial proportions measure up. But Mr. Hatch in his book places one
of the lines at the bottom of the brow on the death mask and high on the brow
of Ramsey portrait, causing other facial proportions to be off. Correcting this
placement puts the portrait in correct proportion to the mask and the center of
Joseph's lips in the Ramsey portraits fall into the correct place.

In
comparing the Ramsey portrait of Joseph Smith in this way, one does notice how
high the eyebrows ride in comparison to the top of the nose, but this may be a
matter of facial expression. Joseph Smith's wife Emma is quoted to have said,
"No painting of him could catch his expression, for his countenance was
always changing to match his thoughts and feelings."[27]
So perhaps we can make some allowance for an expression in Joseph's eyebrows
that is a bit different from that of the death mask.

Some
sources say the L. A. Ramsey "adjusted for three days shrinkage"
which suggests, if this is true, that he made conscious adjustments based on a
belief at the time that the death masks were taken three days after the
martyrdom. Recent research has demonstrated that the death masks were more
likely taken within 24 hours of the martyrdom however. The faces in the Ramsey
Joseph Smith portraits do appear a little more full than the somewhat more
gaunt appearance of the death mask.

Figure 1. Comparison
of Ramsey Portraits of Joseph Smith, the Prophet with the death mask

In
conclusion, what cannot be contested concerning the Ramsey portrait is the
ground broken in giving members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints in the early 20th century a fresh, new, more accurate and
well-done representation of Joseph Smith, their first prophet leader. It
fulfilled an urgent need at the time to have a painted image of him that they
could be proud of and use in their publications.

[5]Joseph
Smith Portraits, A Search for the Prophet's Likeness, p. 107; Hatch finds quite convincing differences in how closely the
eyes are set and in size of the mouth and lips and their distance
proportionally from the nose.

[6] Though there
are claims that there is a photograph of Joseph Smith, recent research has
determined this photograph to be that of the RLDS painting. (See Joseph
Smith Portraits, A Search for the Prophet's Likeness, by Ephraim Hatch, pp 57--68)

[10] 1953 Letter
to M. C. Josephson from Elizabeth P. B. Ramsey. This detail was criticized by
one of Joseph Smith's children, President of the Reorganized Church in a letter
to the Salt Lake Tribune. He said, "The only ring he ever wore was worn on
his left hand." This contradicted the painting done during Joseph Smith's
lifetime and Bathesheba Smith's testimony.

[16] Once after
attending a session in the Salt Lake Temple with my wife, we asked a supervising
temple worker about some of the deeper meanings of the temple ordinances. As we
walked down the hall conversing where the Ramsey paintings of Joseph and Hyrum
now hang, I told him that my grandfather was the artist of these paintings.
Observing our young age, he was quite skeptical and very certain that
"these were brought over the plains from Nauvoo" in the 19th
century. I'm not sure I ever convinced him otherwise, though the signature and
date is on the paintings, albeit very faint.